There was a noise behind me. My fury came back in a rush.Kill my Tilly, would you? Well, you fuckers, no one hurts my steed and lives. I dove for my pistols, freeing them from their drop cords, and fumbled with my speedloaders to insert new shells into the weapons. I barely finished and spun before the demons were on me.
“Consort, are you all right?”
My body shook with rage, but my hand was perfectly steady as I brought the pistol, the custom, four-barrel Imperial-built gift from Astrid, up to point at the Imperial guard’s face. Lyudmyla stopped, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
“Consort, the Emperor requests your presence.”
“I can’t abandon her,” I snarled. “They’ll destroy her, if she’s not already dead.”
Other demon guards arrived. Lyudmyla gestured to them, and they moved towards us. “We’ll take her somewhere safe.”
“Don’t you fucking touch her!” I screamed, the pistoljerking towards the guards. They stopped. “I know you Imps hate SI. You’d love a chance to nuke her processor yourselves. I won’t let you hurt her!”
Lyudmyla took a careful step forwards, her voice soothing, as though she were approaching a dangerous animal. “That machine saved the Emperor’s life. It is a hero. We would never harm it. Let us put it somewhere safe, and we will continue to drive on the main hall.”
My gun hand began to quiver. I only then noticed the tears running down my cheeks. “I can’t leave her like this.”
“Levar.”
It wasn’t Lyudmyla’s voice, nor any other demon’s. It was Astrid. She walked around Lyudmyla, her face mottled, her dress torn, her broken arm done up in a sling. She looked a mess, and beautiful, and about as busted up as I felt, but her eyes, bloodshot as they were, were full of sympathy.
“Levar, we can’t fix her if we don’t finish this.”
“You never liked Tilly,” I said through an angry sob.
“No, but I know now she is a part of you, and I could never harm you.” Astrid reached out her good hand, past my shaking lancer, and took my cheek. “Let’s win this, and then we can repair your steed and live together.”
I wanted to scream. I wanted to hurt somebody.
Fortunately, there were plenty of people nearby who needed to be hurt, but these were not them.
Lowering my pistol, I stepped aside. The demons were too disciplined to breathe a sigh of relief, but I could tell they relaxed.
“Thank you,” Astrid whispered.
I began to stride forwards, loading my second pistol. “Come on. Let’s go kill some people.”
THE LAST EFFORT
REACHING THE EMPEROR’Smain column, I was astonished to see Princess Marie, dressed in a Stelsylvanian hussar’s uniform, carrying a zeroblade swordstaff and surrounded by a small company of blue-coated Stelsylvanian guards.
“I thought I ordered you to hold the Federation delegation in their suite,” I said.
The princess shrugged. “There’s only one door. I disarmed the nobles and left thirty soldiers on guard, which should be enough. When we heard the Emperor’s troubles, I could not stand by.”
“They came just after you left, hit the insurgents in the flank. Combined with you slaying their general, it broke their spirit. You should have seen the cowards run,” Lyudmyla said.
“Your flight was beautiful. Where’s Tilly? I wish to congratulate her,” Princess Marie said, looking around for my faithful hoversteed. She must have noticed the somber mood, because her eyes returned to mine, and they filled with tears. “Oh no, Captain. Is she…”
The princess moved to console me, but I shrugged her off. “We’ll find out after we kick Selnikov’s teeth in. You with me?”
I didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, I started giving orders. The surviving mounted guards would provide reconnaissance and air superiority. We didn’t have enough cavalry to engage in ground attack as well. I re-formed our infantry into a battering ram. The dissidents may have retreated, but I doubted they had given up. We would need to hit them hard. Astrid watched me, her eyes shining, but she stayed quiet, never countermanding my orders, giving her support by silently standing by my side.
I called Darius on the commlink. “Archduke, where are you?”
I could hear the sounds of battle through his return. “We encountered a large force of usurpers heading towards the main hall. We took them in the flank and dispersed the lot, but now we’re in a two-sided firefight.”
“Hold fast, we’re coming to you,” I said, then I spun my hand in the air. “It’s time to move, Emperor.”
